Psalm 90 NLT
Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! (v. 1)
This statement from Moses at the beginning of Psalm 90 is deeply moving. Especially when you consider that he actually uttered this song when they were wandering in the wilderness, on the way to the promised land. His point was that “home” was not a place, “home” was a person. While they had been slaves in Egypt they were “home” because the Lord was their home. As they wandered through the wilderness, looking for a land that would be their own, they were still “home” because He was with them. As they conquered and settled that land, which pointed to another place called “heaven” they were still home as long as He was with them.
My middle name means “traveler” and it has turned out to be pretty prophetic. From the time I was born until the time I was in High School, we moved more than 10 times and I have many memories of moving from place to place as a child. As soon as I graduated High School I was away from “home” and in college. Yet, it wasn’t until college that I met Jesus and it wasn’t until then that I truly came “home.” Since then I have continued to travel. I got married, moved to Arkansas, and from there ended up in Africa. Suzie and I have served now for 23 years in Africa but in multiple locations. Like St. Columba, we have been “always learning, always teaching, always wandering, always preaching.”
We love our African home, we miss our American home, and we look forward to our heavenly home. At the end of the day, “home is where the heart is,” and our hearts are bound up with Christ. He is our true home and He always has been. I can understand what Moses meant here because home is not so much a place as it is a connection with someone. When we think of home we often think of our family and the memories we share there. When you truly know Jesus and He becomes more to you than anything else, He becomes your home—the constant that never changes regardless of your location. When the prodigal ran “home” he wasn’t running to a place, but to a person; his father waiting for him to return. You can be at peace living anywhere in the world as long as Jesus is your home.
